THE Federal Government has accused opposition political parties of politicising the current scarcity of the naira at the expense of Nigerians.

Four political parties – Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and National Rescue Movement (NRM) – had filed a motion which sought to restrain the Federal Government from extending the naira swap deadline.

Justice Eleojo Enenche of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court on Monday, February 6, restrained the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and 27 commercial banks from extending the deadline on the use of old naira notes pending the determination of the suit.

Reacting to the development, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, said opposition parties are not mindful of the plight of Nigerians due to the cash crunch.

Speaking at the 23rd edition of the PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023), on Tuesday, Lai Mohammed described the move by the opposition parties as unscrupulous.

According to him, the action of the political parties is a clear evidence that the opposition has turned the naira redesign policy into a political game, leaving Nigerians to suffer.

said: “Recall that after his (Buhari’) meeting with the Progressives Governors’ Forum on Friday, President Buhari urged the citizens to give him a seven-day window to resolve the currency crunch that has emanated from the implementation of the naira redesign policy.

“Unfortunately, on Monday, some opposition political parties ran to court to obtain an injunction restraining Mr President and the CBN from extending the February 10 deadline for Nigerians to exchange their old notes for new ones.

“These curious actions by the parties concerned are clear evidence that the opposition has turned this whole issue into a political game, preferring to make Nigerians suffer more on the altar of unconscionable political gamesmanship.

“Or how else can one explain that these unscrupulous opposition parties do not want any action that could reduce the pains being experienced by Nigerians?

“How else can one explain that they have decided to legally hamstring Mr President, in particular, from providing any relief for Nigerians suffering from the cash crunch?”